In general, an aerosol can refers to a vessel for spraying contents to the outside by using spray gas in a state in which the contents (fluid or gas) to spray and the spray gas (propellant or propelling gas) are received in the vessel.
Examples of the spray gas may include compressed gas, such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, compressed air, and liquefied gas such as butane gas, propane gas, dimethyl ether (DME), etc., and representative examples of the aerosol can may include mosquito repellant spray, hair spray, and the like.
Further, cigarette lighter gas (fuel) is also used while being received in a can container.
Meanwhile, aerosol cans, such as mosquito repellent spray, hair spray, and the like, or cigarette lighter gas cans are discarded after the contents thereof are completely used. In this case, safety accidents, such as residual gas explosion due to high temperature heat transferred from the outside, frequently happen.
In order to prevent the safety accidents, it is recommended that empty aerosol cans or cigarette lighter gas cans, the contents of which are completely used, be discarded after the residual gas is exhausted through holes formed therethrough.
However, it is very difficult to expect this practice from general consumers because it is very cumbersome to bore a hole through an aerosol can with a sharp or keen tool in order to exhaust spray gas from the aerosol can every time the aerosol can is completely used.
In order to solve the problem, Korean Utility Model No. 20-0454617 (Published on Jul. 15, 2011) discloses a vessel cap that has a residual gas exhaust structure. The vessel cap that has the residual gas exhaust structure includes: a cap member that is formed to protect a nozzle assembly provided on a vessel and has a vertically extending support wall in an opening formed in the upper portion thereof; and a push member that is connected to the opening of the cap member through the support wall and a connecting piece to vertically rotate downward, and presses a valve stem of the nozzle assembly when being pressed by a user.
According to the vessel cap that has the residual gas exhaust structure, residual gas that remains after a gas vessel is completely used can be forcibly exhausted and removed by a simple operation of the vessel cap, thereby solving inconvenience and danger that may happen when residual gas is removed using a separate tool in the related art. In addition, the gas vessel can be safely discarded by removing the residual gas using the vessel cap in an easy and simple manner, thereby preventing safety accidents, such as fire and burning, which may happen when a discarded vessel with residual gas is treated.
However, since the push member for pressing the valve stem of the nozzle assembly is integrally formed with the vessel cap in the residual gas exhaust structure according to the related art, a safety accident may happen due to unintended gas exhaust in cases where the push member is pressed out of curiosity or by mistake in a situation in which the push member should not be pressed, that is, in a state in which the vessel cap is coupled to a vessel.